I’m still looking for the perfect table lamps for our bedside tables in the bedroom and am really frustrated in this search. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this lately, but every online store that sells items at a reasonable price for us commoners seems to carry the same products these days. I can search on Wayfair and find a few in my price range that I like, and then I search on Target’s website and find the exact same lamps. Then I go to Home Depot and find the same ones again. And then “Lamps Plus” and the same lamps appear again. The same applies to Amazon. There doesn’t seem to be anything unique about any of these stores.
Anyway, I think I also ruined my search pretty early on because I already had something in mind that I thought was perfect, but it was way out of my price range. It’s the lamp that’s been in my bedroom model for a while…
This lamp is the Robert Abbey Tangerine Table Lamp from Lamps Plus (affiliate link), but at $887.20 each, that’s never going to happen.
But it’s so perfect. And you know what it’s like when you find something that’s perfect but way out of your price range and then try to find something similar in your price range. Nothing will ever compare to the original. And this one would be so perfect. I made this small model of it using the curtain fabric and the grass fabric.
So last night I continued my search. At some point I decided to take a completely different route and thought it would be nice to add a natural element like rattan. I started looking for rattan lamps but none of them caught my attention until I came across this rattan gourd table lamp from Lamps Plus (affiliate link). As soon as I saw it, I stopped and thought, “That’s it! That’s it!” Of course I did. These cost $607.20 each. Pooh. Why is everything I love out of my price range?! There is no way I can bring myself to spend more than $1,200 on two table lamps.
After creating my model, I realized that rattan probably wasn’t the right choice anyway. It’s too brown on the bedside tables and the shades, but I’m thinking about replacing the shades with something light, bright, light-filtering, and less noticeable when they’re open. So I don’t really want to include these in my selection.
I tried to find something similar in my price range, but of course there is nothing like it.
The closest option I found is this mid-century modern table lamp from Target (affiliate link). It is a set of two and retails for $125.99.
I would paint them here too. I don’t put white table lamps in the “I would never” category. Finally, I have one white lamp in the living room and two white lamps in the music room. But I don’t want white lamps here, so you have to imagine them painted orange/coral.
This one also caught my eye. I love the shape of this stacked egg shaped lamp from Target (affiliate link). It’s a little more expensive. It’s on sale for $123.99 each.
And again you have to imagine it painted.
And finally, this vase base table lamp from Lamps Plus (affiliate link) caught my eye because it’s similar in shape to the original expensive lamp I wanted. These cost $81.59 each, and with some paint and gold accents I could easily achieve a similar look to the expensive lamp.
However, it seems a bit too thin. The more expensive model seems to have a more solid base, which is what I like about it. This thinner model will not have the same effect. And it is the tallest lamp of all. I was hoping to find something that was about 27 inches tall and this one is 30.25 inches tall. But if I choose to, I might just hang the headboard a little higher than I planned. I just don’t want my headboard and lamps to be the same height, and I definitely don’t want the lamps to be higher than the headboard.
I don’t think I can look at any more lamps. I looked at hundreds of them (no exaggeration) and realized I have expensive taste. Everything I Really Like is out of my price range, so I’ll almost certainly have to pick something that needs painting and customization. Of course I completely agree with that. But now I’ve looked at so many lamps that all the lamps in my price range seem so boring.
I know it’s just a lamp, but it’s also one of the first things people (and I) see when they enter our bedroom, so I want something fun and unique. And lamps are part of the “adornment” of a room, just like adding jewelry to a nice outfit, so I don’t want boring lamps that look like they came from a big box store (even though they almost certainly came from a big box store).
